Table of Biography
Donald Lawrence is a gospel music singer, songwriter, and record producer from the United States. Donald Lawrence is widely recognized for his Grammy Award-nominated songs “The Blessing of Abraham” and “Encourage Yourself.”
Early Life
Donald Lawrence was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, the United States, on the 4th of May 1961. Currently, he is 62 years old as of 2023 and he has a sun sign of Taurus. He holds US nationality and belongs to the American-American ethnicity.
He was raised in a musical environment. His father was a choir director while his mother was a gospel singer. However, he has not shared the names of his parents. Similarly, he has not mentioned whether he has any siblings or not. Meanwhile, he began singing in his church choir at a young age.
Donald Lawrence – Education
In terms of his academics, he went on to study music at Morehouse College and the Juilliard School. Later, he enrolled at Cincinnati Conservatory and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in music.
Professional Career
In the early 1990s, Donald Lawrence began his musical career. His musicality has taken numerous forms, including voice coach for the R&B group En Vogue, musical director for Stephanie Mills, songwriter for The Clark Sisters, and producer for a variety of musicians such as Peabo Bryson and Kirk Franklin.
He took over as musical director of The Tri-City Singers after his friend stepped down. The group made its debut in 1993 with “A Songwriter’s Point Of View” on GospoCentric Records, a brand-new independent record company at the time. The song debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top Gospel Charts.
After that success, the group released “Bible Stories” which would top those same charts when it arrived in 1995. It was the first album to be labeled as Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers, and it included black church-popular songs including “A Message For The Saints,” “I Am God,” and “Stranger.” Lawrence’s newly formed company, Crystal Rose Records, distributed the album through Sparrow Records.
Continued his successful musical career
He produced the live section of Karen Clark Sheard’s Grammy-nominated debut, “Finally Karen,” in 1997. The same year, Lawrence & Tri-City produced the seasonal “Hello Christmas.” Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers signed with EMI Gospel in 2000.
To promote the new album, a maxi CD of the lead track “Testify” was released to the general public. Junior Vasquez’s house remixes propelled the song to #33 on Billboard’s Mainstream Dance Charts. When tri-city4.com was ultimately released in 2001, it debuted at number two on Billboard’s Top Gospel Charts and number thirteen on Billboard’s Heatseekers Charts.
Caption: The 2023 Soar Awards Donald Lawrence Tribute “Bless Me” Darrel Walls (Source: YouTube)
The album’s prominence was further boosted by the all-star highlight “God’s Favor,” which featured vocal performances by Karen Clark Sheard, Kim Burrell, and Kelly Price.”I Speak Life” was Lawrence’s first solo album, the debut of his signed recording deal with Verity Records, and also the first release under his new sublabel Quiet Water Entertainment, released in 2004.
Despite the absence of The Tri-City Singers, the album was replete with guest appearances. Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker, Faith Evans, Richard Smallwood, and Carl Thomas all contributed to the record. Even jazz legends Ramsey Lewis and Lalah Hathaway were on hand for a version of the Bible Stories classic “Don’t Forget To Remember.”
The Tri-City singer announced retirement
The Tri-City Singers announced their retirement in March 2006, but not before one final live recording. On April 4, 2006, Finale: Act One and Finale: Act Two were released simultaneously. Each release was a CD/DVD combo that documented the music and video from one half of the show, with packaging that locked into one another. Finale eventually appeared in a special version that included both CDs and DVDs.
In December 2006, the album’s hit single “The Blessing Of Abraham” received a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Performance. His sophomore solo album, The Law of Confession Part I, was released in February 2009. Soon later, Donald stated in an interview that The Law of Confession, Part II would be released soon, but that he was working on other projects.
He appeared on the title track “Released” by Bill Winston and presents Living Word. Moreover, he was also the host of Verizon’s “How Sweet The Sound Choir Competition.”
Awards
The gospel singer won three Stellar Awards (2006, 2007, and 2008), and Grammy Award (2007). In addition, he has been nominated for several Grammy awards as well.
Net Worth 2023
As of 2023, his net worth is estimated at around $1 million while his salary and income are under review. However, his exact earnings and salary have not been made public. Meanwhile, he has lived a comfortable lifestyle through his musical career.
Relationship Status
Currently, Donald Lawrence is dating Kim McFarland-Anderson. However, not many details are available regarding their love life, such as when they first met, and when the couple started dating each other. Similarly, there is no information available regarding his past love life and affairs.
The gospel singer is not involved in any kind of controversy or scandal. Meanwhile, he has maintained a clean profile and is fully focused on his career.
Body Measurements
Caption: Donald Lawrence posing for a photo (Source: Praise 106.1)
Looking at his appearance, he has a pair of brown eyes with black hair colour. He has an average height and weight but the exact body measurements such as height, weight, shoe size, dress size, and others are still missing.
Donald Lawrence – Social Media
On his Instagram page ‘@donaldlawrence’ there are over 427k followers. Likewise, there are over 216.4k followers on his Twitter page “@DonaldLawrence’ and over 858k followers on his official Facebook page. He also ran his self-titled YouTube channel and there are over 188k subscribers as of now.